de Agua and de Fuego. These mountains lie about twenty miles apart.
In 1773 the city was almost razed by earthquakes. Several years later it was founded anew in the Valle de las Vacas, 25 miles distant from the Ciudad Vieja, and the capital was transferred to New Guatemala. The modern city is embellished with numerous gardens. Several of the ancient edifices have been repaired, and the beholder is impressed with their former grandeur and solidity.
A small stream, the Pensativo River, runs near the city.
There are several schools, and one or two newspapers are published, in old Guatemala.
Coffee, sugar-cane, cactus, the cereals, and fruits grow in the environs.
The author wishes to record his grateful sense of obligation to Señor Don Antonio Batres, the present Minister of Guatemala to the United States, for the courtesy with which he has responded to his numerous requests for information regarding the condition and prospects of that Republic.
